3 out of the 5 Paralympic athletes are current Paralympic champions. Claire Cashmore began competing in the Paralympic in 2004 in Athens. She won gold and silver in Rio in 2016 for swimming. In Tokyo 2021 she is running in the Paratriathlon. Ellie Challis is a swimmer. Aged 16 months she developed sepsis and meningitis. The disease ravaged her tiny body resultingin her having both legs amputated below the knee and both arms at the elbow. In 2012 she won bronze in the S3 50m backstroke in the Paralympics in London. She is the world record holder for SB2 50m backstroke . Hollie Beth Arnold is the reigning Paralympic F46 javelin thrower. In 2008, aged just 14, she was the youngest ever field event athlete. In 2018 she became the first ever javelin thrower to hold all 4 major titles in the same Paralympic/ Olympic 4 year cycle. Kylie Grimes has returned to her first love wheelchair rugby after a life changing spinal injury in 2006. Stef Reid, a long jumper, has won bronze at London 2012 and in Rio in 2016, but yet to win gold.

Saint Dunstan was an English bishop. e was successively Abbott of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English church. He was both an artist and a scribe and was skilled in making pictures and forming letters as were other clergy of his age who reached senior rank. He served as an important minister of state, including ‘prime minister’, to several English kings in the 10th century- Kings AEthelstan, Edmund, Eadred, Eadwig, Edgar. Edward and . AEthelred the Unready. He officiated at the coronation of King Edgar. He was the most popular saint in England for nearly 2 centuries having gained fame for the many stories of his greatness. He lived to the age of 79. His final word are reported to be He hath made the remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord: he hath given food to them that fear him. Source Wikipedia

John was a British Baptist Nonconformist minister and politician who became famous as the advocate of passive resistance to the Education Act of 1902. In 1858 he was called to the Praed Street chapel in Paddington, London. Whilst there he went to the university of London gaining 4 degrees (BA, BS, MA and BL 1859-66) At the Praed Street chapel he gradually obtained a large following and in 1877 Westbourne Park was opened. He became a preacher , writer, propagandist and an ardent Liberal politician, he became a power in the Nonconformist body He held a number of important Nonconformist roles 1879 president of the London Baptist Association 1888 & 1899 president of the Baptist 1898 president of the National Council of Evangelical Churches 1899 became a prominent campaigner against the Boer War president of the Stop the War Committee. 1902 Education Act. John was the chief leader of the passive resistant movement. 1906 January - had a share in the defeat of the Unionist Government Efforts now directed to getting a new act which should be nondenominational. In 1883 rewarded an honorary DD by Bates College, USA, and then known as Dr Clifford

Saint Francis was an Italian Catholic Friar, deacon and preacher. He founded the men’s order of Friar Minor, the women’s Order of saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land. He is one of the most venerated religious figures in Christianity. He was born in 1181 in Assisi Italy. He enjoyed life until 1202 when he had a serious illness which changed his behaviour. He turned to God and spent his time and money on helping the poor and sick people especially those with leprosy. In 1209 he started to live like a hermit- he lived in a hovel near the church he was rebuilding. In 1210, with eleven friends, he went to see Pope Innocent 111. They were officially recognised - it was the beginning of the Franciscan Order - now world wide. 1217 saw him involved with the Crusades He preached in the Saracens camp and spoke with Sultan. He attempted to make a truce with the Christians and Muslims. He decided in 1220 to give up the leadership of the Order. His health began to fail but his joyful spirit never failed. He had frequent visions and received the Stigmata - marks on his hands, feet and side in his own flesh. Before he died in 1226 he composed the Canticle of the Sun. Saint Francis was known for his love of nature and animals. He was canonized in 1228, just two years after his death. There is a great deal of information to found about him. Wikipedia gives him 22 pages. I have put together a mixture of different types of data. Ducksters gives children an outline of his life. !2 interesting questions are asked and answered. I have included a translation of the* Canticle of the Sun.* Sources used wikipedia * The Church’s Year* Charles Alexander Encyclopedia.com Canticle of the Sun Biographies for Kids Catholic Encyclopedia

Nicola Adams became the first female boxer to become an Olympic champion in 2012. At the London Summer Olympics she won fly weight title. She went on to successfully defend her title at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. She began her career as an amateur representing Haringey Police Community Club. She went on to win the entire set of amateur championships available to her - Olympic, Commonwealth and European Games titles. She turned professional in 2017 and went on to capture the WBO flyweight title. She only fought 6 ties as a professional - winning 5 and drawing her last contest. In her rematch with Maria Salinas she suffered a torn pupil and after consultation retired, undefeated. I’m immensely honoured to have represented our country- to win double Olympic medals and then the WBO championship belt is a dream come true. Nicola Adams. (Nicola became the first openly LGBT person to win an Olympic boxing gold medal.) Sources Wikipedia Women in Sport by Rachel Ignotofsky

Recently there has been a lot of news about Climate Change and the number of serious fires we are now experiencing . Over the years I have created several Phrase and Vocabulary sheets. Friend or Foe/ could be a good discussion/ starting point I have included a short story when, during a dispute, the green goddesses were trundled out in England - written by myself. There are also 2 poetry aids with a few ‘couplets’ included for starters. There is also a blank ‘comic’ strip and 2 best copy sheets. I have included 3 pages from a book called Emergency - the author describes how to put out a fire and describes the use of basic firefighting equipment. There is also a page about breathing apparatus. There is a general Rescue sheet. Finally I have included information about fire-engines/lorries/trucks and other vehicles. There are lots of FREE photocopiable sheets on firemen/fighters and fire engines available on Google. Sources Challenging the Physical Elements by Tony Batchelor Wikipedia What to do in an Emergency Reader’s Digest

I have put together two vocabularies about Tsumani and Tidal Waves with a story example and a Poetry Aid. There is also a piece of clip art for final best copy. Added general Rescue sheet.

Two information sheets about travelling by rail -Train journey to London and Travel using the Channel Tunnel. There is also a short crossword/ word search (answers supplied). Clip art sheet for ‘best’ copy Added general Rescue vocabulary sheet.

A vocabulary and poetry aid about rain and storms. Illustrations by David Woodroffe. Rain can create floods. Rain plus snow can create serious flooding

Didier Yves Drogba played for the Ivory Coast He was captain of the Cote d’Ivore national team. Excellent header of the ball. Eusebio da Silva Ferreira played for Portugal First black player to win the Balloon d’ Or (1965) Athletic, fast & agile Garrincha - Manuel Francisco dos Santos played for Brazil Garrincoho means 'people.‘s Joy’. His wife was singer Elza Soares George Manneh Oppong Weah played for Liberia For important matches wore red boots. Powerful header of the ball. Marta Vieira Silva (female) played for Brazil World’s best female. Scored almost a goal a game in internationals. Neymar da Silva Santos Junior plays for Brazil PSG paid a World record £200 million for him - a dribbler - a virtuoso Paul Pogba plays for France Changes hairstyle for big matches. Imitates a rapper when he scores. Pele - Edson Arantes do Nascimento played for Brazil The greatest player. Scored more than 1,000 goals in his career. Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima played for Brazil Always kept the ball a few centimetres from his feet. Samuel Eto’o Fils played for Cameroon He was naturally 2 footed Sources Wikipedia Fantastic Footballers by Jean-Michel Billioud

Eight men who have done extraordinary feats. One walked extraordinary distances. One skied down K2. Several have climbed Everest and climbed other mountains over 8,000 without needing extra oxygen. Some of their firsts were done solo without using dogs or motorised transport. Together Mike Hearn and Borge Ousland walked for 2 months in total darkness, on paper thin ice, to the North Pole! Andrew Skurka - American backpacker -long distance hiker -7,778 miles Andrzej Leszek Bargiel - Polish dare devil skier who skied down K2 Borge Ousland -Norwegian explorer of North and South Poles Ed Stafford -UK first non-indigenous person to walk the entire Amazon River. Eric Larsen - American - North and South Pole plus Everest Leo Houlding- UK - rock climber - first to free climb El Capitan Mike Horn- South African - Poles explorer and climbed 8000+ without oxygen Nirmal Purja -Nepalese Mountaineer - climbed Everest, Lhotse & Makalu in 48hrs

Isobel Selina Miller Kuhn - Belle - was a Canadian Christian missionary to the Lisu people of Yunnan Province, China and northern Thailand. She served with the China Inland Mission, along with her husband John , as a Bible translator, church planter, Bible teacher, evangelist and author of 9 books about her experiences. Rainy Seasons Bible Schools was opened by Isobel. During the dry season her ‘pupils’ worked hard on the land. When the floods came they were able to study. From 1930-1954 Isobel and John were missionaries in China. Their missionary work was put on hold from 1950-2 because of the Chinese communist revolution. In 1954 Isobel was diagnosed with cancer and she concentrated on writing her books. Her first book By Searching is an autobiography of her early life in a Christian home and her eventual conversion, aged 20, to being a born again Christian. ISBN 978-0853639111 Irene Howat in her book Gold from Dark Mines looks at Isobel 's searching and 5 other well known Christians and their build-up to their conversions. Isobel died on March 20th 1957 with her John at her side. Her funeral was held at Wheaton College Church. When I get to heaven they aren’t going to see much of me but my heels, for I’ll be hanging over the golden wall keeping an eye on the Lisu church! Isobel Kuhn (Note Her father was a roentgenologist - a person who uses x-rays in the diagnosis of illness an disease.) Sources Wikipedia 4 excellent pages of notes Gold From Dark Mines Irene Howat ch7 p173-p203 (ISBN 1 -85792-943-8)

William was an English official on board the Mayflower in 1620 He was probably born in Scrooby, Nottinghamshire. He studied briefly at Peterhouse, Cambridge before entering the service of William Davison , ambassador to the Netherlands, in1584. He became a Puritan before moving illegally from England to Holland - the departure was a complex matter. They were arrested in 1607 but in 1608 they were successful leaving from the Humber estuary. For the first year they lived in Amsterdam, Holland. After controversy they moved to Leiden. He was first an assistant and later an elder to Pastor John Robinson. He printed and published Puritan religious books and taught English to university students. When the Speedwell sailed to England he was the highest ranked layman of the congregation and was their designated elder for the Plymouth colony. He was also the only pilgrim with political and diplomatic experience. The Mayflower departed Plymouth in England in September 1620. The 100 foot vessel carried 102 passengers and a crew 30/40 in cramped conditions. During the voyage the ship was buffeted by strong winds. After being blown off course by gales it landed first at Cape Cod. It continued on to an area near present day Plymouth, Massachsetts and landed on 21st December 1620. Within months half the passengers had died due to the cold, harsh New England winter. William served as the senior elder and religious leader of the colony until 1629 when pastor Ralph Smith arrived. He continued to preach irregularly until his death on 10th April 1644. 4 of the outer islands now bear his name - Great, Little, Middle and Outer Brewster. Source Wikipedia

William was a Christian minister serving a congregation in Salford, England. In 1800 he established a new congregation in Salford and built the chapel, Christ Church, at his own expense .He founded the Bible Christian Church in 1809. Followers were known as Cowherdites. He was one of the philosophical forerunners of the vegetarian Society founded in 1847. His early ideas and insights into the abstinence from eating meat, provided the basis for early ideas about vegetarianism. On 18th of January 1809 he asked his congregation, during his sermon, to refrain from eating meat. He is credited with being the main figure advocating the theory of vegetarianism. One of the distinct feature of the Bible Christians was a belief in a meat-free ‘vegetable diet’, known today as ovo-lacto vegetarianism, as a form of temperance.

Rowland Hill was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system… he is usually credited with originating the basic concepts of the modern postal service, including the invention of the postage stamp. He started to take an interest in postal reforms in 1835 Hill’s pamphlet Post Office Reform;Its importance and Practicability was submitted to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Thomas Spring Rice on 4th January 1817. It was then circulated privately. The postal service was mismanaged, wasteful, expensive and slow. It had become inadequate for the needs of an expanding commercial and industrial nation. It stated costs could be reduced if postage were prepaid by the sender. Proposing an adhesive stamp to indicate pre-payment of postage. 1840 was the first year of the Penny Post. In May 1840 the world’s first adhesive postage stamps were distributed. Rowland continued at the Post Office until the Conservative Party won the 1841 General Election . In July 1842, amid rancorous controversy, he was dismissed.

Augustine of Hippo is one of the 4 Doctors of the church. He was one of the most intelligent men who ever lived He was born in Numidi (now Algeria) in 354. His parents were Saint Monica and Patricius, a pagan. His father, on his death bed became a Christian and died in 373 when Augustine was just 19. Augustine was rebellious and his mother prayed for 17 years before he became converted. He was educated in Cathage, then went to Rome, followed by moving to Milan where he taught rhetoric. For 10 years he was interested in Manichaeism (see notes). In Milan he listened to the sermons of Saint Ambrose. To his mother’s joy he was converted and baptised. He was 33. He and Saint Ambrose probably composed the * Te Deum.* The year was 387 when Saint Monica died. She had spent many years praying for her son before he was converted. In her last two years she saw her prayers wonderfully answered. Saint Monica died in Ostia as she and her son gazed at the sea and discoursed about the joys of the blessed. He returned to Africa. H e spent several years in communal living, teaching, meditating, fasting and praying. He ended up becoming a priest and went to Hippo as an assistant to bishop Valerius and established a monastic community. On the bishop’s death he became bishop - Augustine of Hippo. He began to write. Many of his books, all in Latin, are still available to read. Confessions and City of God are his most famous books. Confessions looks at his childhood and conversion. (See list of books) He died in 430 ,aged 76, when his city was being besieged by Vandals who had invaded the Roman Empire. Saint Augustine is considered by many to be the greatest teacher of Christian Truth after Saint Paul - writer of the epistles in the New Testament. I have included a list of his books his ideas, plus definitions for Manichaeism and Filique Gold from Dark Mines by Irene Howart ch1 pages 7-44 Sources Wikipedia and The Church’s Year by Charles Alexander Encyclopedia of Saints by Howard Loxton

A vocabulary and poetry aid about Fog. Illustrations by David Woodroffe.

Amy Carmichael was a girl from Belfast. She , with her two brothers, helped an elderly lady carry a heavy bundle. Aged 18 she, not her brothers, had a revelation, similar to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. ‘That day she talked to God, and settled once and for all the pattern of her future life.’ *They found the Secret *by V. Raymond Edman. She was the first missionary appointed under the Keswick .convention. She went initially to Japan, then Ceylon and then spent 55 consecutive years in Southern India. In Japan she learnt the importance of simple dress sense and appearance. In India she always dressed in saris never in western clothing. She felt the calling to save both girls and boys being used in the temples.The children were being sold to ‘marry’ the Brahmin temple priest. She first took girls then boys. The refuge was called DOHNAVUR. With other Indian women she created a hostel and hospital for children. Through her tireless effort laws were put in place to protect the children After an accident, when she broke her leg and ankle, she was confined to bed as an invalid for 20 years. She then began to write - 37 books in total Thing as they are, Meal in a barrel, Gold Cord, Though the Mountains Shake - to name just four. Amy also wrote a great deal of Christian poetry. In 2017 , 150 years after her birth, Roger Carswell, a member of the Association of Evangelists, wrote the article I have photocopied.

Jonathan Goforth,the** flaming preacher**, a Canadian and his wife Rosalind,from England, spent 46 years criss-crossing China in order to preach, teach and make disciples. The Goforths were sent to pioneer the North Henan mission in 1888. They were there during the Boxing War in 1900. Jonathan nearly lost his life - he survived having his head, neck and back being hacked by a long bladed sword when he acted as spokes person for his group. He was very fortunate not to lose his life .They returned to Canada, for a year, for him to convalesce. 1906 Jonathan, whilst preaching, felt he had to reconcile a difference with a Christian colleague. He stopped and promised the Lord he would solve the problem. Instantly the atmosphere changed- people became receptive, the meeting opened in prayer - confessions and repentance spread through the tearful congregation Wherever they ministered unbelievers became Christians. Local people were trained to evangelise, teach the Bible and make disciples. When they left they had 61 full-time Chinese evangelists and Bible teachers, two resident mission stations and 1000s of baptised and disciple converts. My sources for this information are Wikipedia and Ambassadors for Christ. There is an excellent biography of Rosalind Goforth on the wholesome words.org/missions site

Bob Gass, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was a Christian with a mission. He was told on his wedding day, to Debbie, that he would reach more people through his writing than his preaching. From small beginnings of 3,5OO copies in 1994 of Word for Today to MILLIONS today. He died earlier this year leaving a legacy of Word for Today, plus several years of Word for Today in note form to be used for several more years.